


Blue Light

by Crewe



Category: Neoscum (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff without Plot, Gen, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 04:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20370934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crewe/pseuds/Crewe
Summary: Zenith has a headache.Between the sleep deprivation, lack of reasonable provisions, and constant fear for their lives, this is hardly an unusual occurrence. And he can't rule any of those factors out, but his current primary stressor is a little closer to home.--The gang pulls over for some much-needed sleep but Dak won't stop playing his damn phone games.





	Blue Light

Zenith has a headache.

Between the sleep deprivation, lack of reasonable provisions, and constant fear for their lives, this is hardly an unusual occurrence. And he can't rule any of those factors out, but his current primary stressor is a little closer to home.

They'd all finally badgered Dak into pulling over into a truck stop to rest for the night, under the strict conditions that they'd only stop long enough for him to get his requisite fifteen minutes, and Z would check all the security cameras for anyone that looked willing and able to carry out a bounty against four exhausted shadowrunners.

It didn't take long to rule out the bored teenager behind the counter as a threat, and check the comm of the only other trucker at the stop for Darkmovers. There was no sign of it, though he did find some pictures of her dog that he saved for Pox and Tech to coo over later. Satisfied with the team's safety for at least long enough to get a solid nap in, he was ready to drop out of the matrix and pass the fuck out when he noticed… a new signal. A new, unfortunately very _ familiar _ signal.

Zenith dropped out of the matrix to find Dak had wrestled the back of the bench seat almost entirely horizontal, and had casually thrown his legs up across the seat over Z's lap. None of this would be a problem, but he was also propped up against the door with the all-too-familiar cheerful Candy Crush music coming from his comm.

Hence, the headache.

"Dak," he says for the sixth time and counting. "Seriously, dude, you gotta stop with this."

"Stop worrying, Z," Dak says without looking up from his comm. His legs are still pinning Z to the seat, or he would've crawled over and yanked the damn thing out of his hands already. "It's just Candy Crush. Who's gonna find me through _ Candy Crush_?"

"Literally any decker looking for a signal, Dak. Like, seriously, all of them. There's a reason I deleted all that shit off your comm in the first place."

"Yeah, and it was real annoying having to re-download them all and sign back in again, Z let me tell you."

"Oh my god. If you don't get us killed first, I am going to kill you."

"Is everything okay up here?" Tech Wizard's head pokes out of the tube leading back to the trailer. "Are you two fighting about something?"

"Nah, we're all good here, Tech!" Dak says at the same time as Z says, "Dak is on the network again."

"I thought we couldn't connect to the network," Tech says, then misses the edge of the tube with his good hand and pitches forward with a yelp. A hand shoots out and grabs him by the collar of his robes, and Pox's bushy head pops out behind him.

"I thought it was okay because of Zenith's fancy-shmancy security thing," she says, letting go of Tech as Dak grabs hold of him from the front to help him down onto the seat. Tech wriggles his way into a comfortable position under Dak's arm, yawning widely. Dak absently drops a kiss on his head without taking his eyes off his comm.

Zenith pinches the bridge of his nose. "That makes it easier for me to defend against hackers that do find us, yes," he says, "but it still doesn't stop people from following a neon sign advertising Dak's personal information."

Dak laughs, his lips curling back into a wide grin. "Plenty of people would love to get a little _ personal information _about ol' Dak Rambo--"

"Holy shit. Dak. Please stop talking."

"C'mon, Z, I'm sure it's fine," Tech half-whines, reaching out to Zenith with his good arm. The injured one is still in a sling, tucked up tight between his body and Dak's. "We're all exhausted, let's just go to sleep."

"Why am I the only one taking this seriously?" Z asks despairingly. But Tech's clumsy grasping finally catches hold of his arm and tugs insistently, and he _ is _tired, and, well, the sooner they go to sleep the sooner Dak will stop playing that stupid game. He shimmies his way out from under Dak's legs and allows Tech Wizard to pull him up into their cuddle pile. Z drops down against Dak's broad chest, and Tech wraps his good arm around him and snuggles up close as soon as he's settled. Dak ruffles his hair affectionately and Z finds himself relaxing despite himself.

"Of course we know it's serious," Pox says as she drops deftly down from the tube to the seat. She crawls up over the bunch of them, one of her very sharp knees managing to land precisely on Zenith's kidney on the way. She pauses to pat him on the cheek. "But if anyone finds us, you'll stop them, yeah?"

"I mean, yeah, of course," Z splutters. "But--"

"Then it's all fine!" Pox says brightly, curling up on top of the three of them. One of her legs entwines itself with Z's arm and his hand closes lightly around her ankle. She's terribly angular, but so light it's not at all uncomfortable to have her draped over him. "Tech, is your arm okay if I lie like this?"

"Yeah, you're good, Pox."

"Wonderful. Now everyone go to sleep, I'm _ exhausted_."

Tech murmurs sleepily in agreement, his arm flexing around Zenith's middle and pulling him back into him slightly. Dak's arm shifts where it crosses Z's chest and he glances up to see him moving his comm so Pox can see the screen where she's settled her cheek on his shoulder. He wants to keep being annoyed, because it's still very annoying, but he really is tired, and Tech is soft, and Pox is warm, and Dak is strong, and despite himself Z feels _ safe_\--a state that's difficult to attain at best these days.

"I'm deleting your apps again in the morning," he grumbles in defeat, nestling his head into Dak's chest. His answering huff of laughter lightly ruffles Zenith's hair.

"Sure thing, Z," Dak says, his voice warm and heavy with affection. The music from the game dims to silence, until the only sounds in the cab are the creak of the seat, the wind outside, and the breathing of his friends.

Zenith closes his eyes, and sleeps.


End file.
